Adjustable rail brace



M. J. ZEEMAN ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE Filed April 9, 19:55

July 13, 1937. 2,087,224

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 @2510 JZeeman 2W neg July 13, 1937. M. J. ZEEMAN 2,037,224

ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRACE Filed April 9, 19:55 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invehfor? frhh J eeman' L. 1. m3-

Patented July 13, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE RAIL BRAOE Kansas Application April 9, 1935, Serial No. 15,448

1 Claim.

My invention relates to railroad track construction and has particular reference to a novel type of adjustable rail brace for curved tracks, guard rails, stock switch rails and which is adjustable 5 to take up wear on the under surface of the rail head with which the brace contacts.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eflicient rail bracing structure which efiectively prevents the [o spreading of the rails in service, as well as keeping the rails from turning over.

In effect, the device of my invention acts as an adjustable slanting brace or strut between the under surface of the rail head and the plate 15 upon which the brace is. attached and thus car,-

ries the load from the rail head to the plate and prevents the rail from inclining outward due to the thrust of the wheels traveling over the rails.

A main object of my invention is to provide a construction in which it-is unnecessary to discard the whole rail brace when the rail with which the brace serves is relaid with heavier weight of rail. In such a case the insertion of a new wedge suitable for the increased weight of the rail is all that is necessary, the bracing member formerly used remaining in place.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and the novel features of my invention will be particularly pointed out in 30 the appended claim.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this application, in which Figure 1 is a plan view; 35 Figure 2 is a front view;

Figure 3 is an end view taken through the line 33 looking in the direction of the arrows; Figure 4 is a front elevation of the brace member; Figure 5 is an end view of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a front view of the wedge used with my invention; 0

Figure 7 is an end view of Figure 6 looking in 45 the direction of the arrows;

Figure 8 is a plan view of Figure 6; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the wedge; Figure 10 is a perspective view of the brace member to be used with the wedge of Figure 9; Figure 11 is a perspective view of modified form of wedge, and

Figure 12 is a fragmentary view of brace member to be used in. combination with the wedge of Figure 11. 5 Referring to the drawings, which illustrate one use of my invention; that is, a rail brace for stock rails at split switches, the reference character I represents a rail, 2 a plate upon which the rail is supported and 3 the tie which in turn supports the plate 2. Upon the plate 2 is a suitable stop 5 or riser 4 against which a flange of the rail I abuts. On the opposite side of the rail is a second stop 5 attached to the plate 2 by rivets '6 or welding or other suitable means, against which the edge 8' of the horizontal flange 8 of the brace 10 member generally designated by I, abuts. The horizontal flange 8 is provided with holes 9 for bolts which assist in holding the brace in position upon the plate 2 and tie 3. Ill represents a wedge cooperating with a sloping groove ll 15 situated in the sloping top l2 of the brace member I, all of which will be explained in'detail later on.

While I have shown two forms of wedges which may be used in conjunction with my invention, it is to be understood that the form of wedge may be varied to suit conditions. It may be stated here that the brace and wedge may be of any suitable material such as cast steel, forged steel, alloy steel, malleable iron, etc. As illustrated, the wedge shown by Figs. 1, 2, 3 and Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, is of modified cruciform shape having a sloping lower flange l3, an upper flange M, a side flange l5 and an opposite side flange 16 having a row of openings II, the object of which will be explained later. At the end of the wedge is a rib it which provides a striking face. Also the brace member I has end walls I 9 and may have one or more intermediate bracing ribs 20 contacting the base of the rail. The brace, it will, 5 be observed, has a slanting conflgurationfrom its top i 2 to the horizontal flange 8.

To position the rail brace, the plate 2 with its riser 4 and stop 5, is laid upon the tie 3 and the brace designated generally by I is attached to the plate by means of spikes or equivalent means, with the edge '8 of the brace abutting against the edge of the stop 5. The brace may be fastened by bolts, rivets or by welding to the plate and the plate fastened to the tie by any suitable means instead of the bolts as shown. After the brace has thus been positioned, the wedge generally designed by I0 is driven in place between the top I! of the brace and the under side of the head of the rail I. This is accomplished by permitting the sloping lower flange l3 of the wedge to travel in the correspondingly sloping groove ll of the brace member and by having the side flanges l5 and I 6 slide over the top [2 of the brace member. For driving the wedge in position the surface l8 of the wedge is hit by a spike maul. After the wedge has beendriven in tight against the under side of the head of the rail through the cooperation of the wedge flange l3 and the brace member groove H, a cotter pin 2! (Figs. 1 and 2) is inserted through its proper opening ii and is caused to abut against the end wall IQ of the brace member, thus preventing retrograde movement of the wedge. In actual service it has been found practical to have the holes A of an inch each in diameter and. drilled 1 g of an inch from center to center. This diameter and spacing of the openings permits slightly less than inch vertical adjustment of the wedge. In this instance the slope of the top of the brace and the bottom of the wedge is 1 in 8, which slope may be varied. It will be understood that the flatter the slope the finer the vertical adjustment. In the modification shown in Figs. 11 and 12 it will be noted that the side flange I6 carries two rows of staggered openings 22, thus providing an even finer adjustment of the wedge; namely, of an inch vertical movement. To provide for this double row of openings the side flange I6 is made wider than the side flanges shown in the other figures and the top l2 of the brace member is made correspondingly wider for the purpose of supporting the flange I6 when in position.

It will be seen (Fig. 3) that the vertical face of the brace member adjacent the web of the rail does not contact with the rail web, thus providing a space 23 between the brace and the web of the rail.

From the above description it will be observed that fine vertical adjustment may be made to take up any wear that occurs on the under side of the rail, thus providing a rigid brace for the rail at all times. With the wear of the under side of the rail head thus always taken care of, outward movement or tilting of the rail is precluded and, consequently, any tendency of the rail to spread or turn over is prevented. Also, there being no contact between the vertical face of the brace and the web of the rail, there is no danger of the rail being canted when the wedge is driven home. In addition, it will be observed that by means of the riser 4 and stop 5 or the like, and the contact of the end walls 19 of the brace and the ribs 20 upon one of the flanges of the rail, the rail is held fast in position upon the plate 2.

Having thus described my invention it is obvious that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention; hence I do not wish to: be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and described, or the uses mentioned, except as limited by the state of the art to which the invention appertains, and the claim hereto appended.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

An adjustable rail brace comprising in combination a support, a rail having a head, web and base, a brace member having a longitudinally inclined top and a correspondingly inclined groove therein, a wedge having an inclined bottom face adapted to be supported in the inclined groove and adapted to ride therein and having an upper face in parallel relation with the under side'of the head of the rail, a flange upon the wedge and extending outwardly therein adapted to ride upon the top portion of the brace member and having openings therein, means to drive said wedge in said groove and over the top portion of the brace for vertical movement against the under side of the head of the rail, means comprising pins insertable through the openings and contacting with a vertical face of the brace member to prevent retrograde movement of the wedge and means to position said brace and rail upon said support.

MARTIN J. ZEEMAN. 

